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International Justice Mission
Helping a global human rights organization target and prevent human trafficking.
International Justice mission is a global human rights organization that protects people in poverty from violence. They achieve this by rescuing victims, bringing criminals to justice, restoring survivors to safety and strength, and helping local law enforcement build a safe future that lasts.
The Problem
According to IJM's website, there are an estimated 50 million people held in various forms of slavery today. Even though IJM's organization spans 16 countries, they recognize that US legislators are in a unique position to provide funding and be a catalyst for change both in the US and worldwide.
The Freedom Commons, their previous congressional scorecard, was a good test to learn what worked and what made legislators pay attention. They learned it was a lot of manual upkeep to keep the data current. The Freedom Commons Scorecard didn't provide features they realized they needed: legislator scoring, on-site bill detail, bill comments or bill categories. They needed a system that was more automated and engaging for both the public and legislators alike.
The Solution
One of IJM's goal's is to "prevent the violence from happening in the first place" using their Community Protection Model. One of the 4 key pillars in their model is to Strengthen Justice Systems. They use our Legislative Scorecard Service to do just that.
They regularly review a wide range of legislation that affect their efforts using BillTrack50, our legislative tracking partner. They narrow down which pieces of legislation would be most effective as key legislation and they rating on each one.
Our software syncs their key legislation, ratings, and bill details to IJM's scorecard website every 8.5 hours. We continue syncing, so if new votes happen or any data changes on the legislation, IJM gets it synced directly to their live scorecard - without the manual upkeep. Our Legislative Scorecard Service ranks each member of Congress based on their votes on those key bills. Members of Congress can also gain additional points for sponsoring anti-trafficking bills or lose points for sponsoring counter-productive legislation.
The scorecard is then used as part of their public policy and advocacy efforts. IJM's U.S. policy and advocacy team engages policymakers and their staff to share innovative solutions and proven intervention methods to address violence and exploitation that help inform policy and funding choices.
Results
This tool allows advocates, the media, and the general public to hold elected officials to account for their decisions related to the global fight against modern slavery and violence. Most of all, it helps them Impact Legislation® and change lives.
"Congress, federal agencies and other policymakers can advance bipartisan funding and policy initiatives that disrupt cycles of modern slavery, exploitation and violence."
IJM's Public Policy page